The big, ugly summer “dome of doom” has retreated from our area for a short spell here, bringing a welcome return of lower dew points even though our high temperatures still reach into the lower half of the 90s. Unfortunately, the dome intends to offer up an encore later this week into the weekend. Thursday starts the descent and Friday to Saturday should be our low points again with high heat and humidity. But at least right now, this upcoming heat should under-perform last week’s record setter. But when it is that hot (heat indices above 100F), will we really notice the difference?

Today (Tuesday): Modest high pressure dropping down from the upper Great Lakes delivers more sunshine and much less humidity today. You should notice the difference right from the beginning as this morning’s lows are actually below 80 degrees for a change! Highs today should be in the low-to-mid 90s, but the decreasing humidity should make it less painful. Light winds from the north and northwest. Confidence: High

Tonight: Mostly clear skies, cooler breezes from the north, and more comfortable temperatures with mid-to-upper 60s in the suburbs, but maybe still very low 70s in the District. Finally, we give our air conditioners a chance to breathe too! Confidence: High

Keep reading for the forecast through the weekend...

Tomorrow (Wednesday): This is by far the best day of this week. And I’m tempted to give it a Nice Day sun.. The humidity is really low today and some spots could even fail to reach that 90-degree benchmark. So debate away! Highs should range from the upper 80s to low 90s with mostly sunny skies and light winds mainly from the north. Confidence: High

Tomorrow night: Partly cloudy and still on the comfortable side. Lows in the middle 60s in the outer surburbs to probably lower 70s in the city. Confidence: Medium-High

A LOOK AHEAD

Thursday finds the heat creeping back into the picture with winds shifting to come from a more south and southwest direction. Temperatures and humidity claw their way to more uncomfortable levels. Highs in the low-to-middle 90s. More humid and partly cloudy Thursday night with lows back into the low-to-mid 70s. Confidence: Medium-High

Friday is an ouch day with upper 90s likely and heat index levels in the 100 to 110 or higher range again. Partly to mostly sunny skies are expected and we do have a 20% chance of scattered late day or evening thunderstorms (which would be welcome to a few lucky recipients). Very muggy Friday night with lows in the mid-70s to low 80s. Confidence: Medium

The weekend picks up the misery where Friday leaves off with probably mid-to-upper 90s under partly sunny skies on Saturday, but at least with a 40% chance of later-day cooling thunderstorms. Saturday night looks muggy with lows ranging through the 70s. Sunday is still humid, but more clouds and storms (another 40% chance) should drop us down to the low-to-mid 90s. But maybe some good news: we are seeing signs that the next week’s heat “dome” retreat might have a bit longer staying power! Confidence: Low-Medium.

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Comments our editors find particularly useful or relevant are displayed in Top Comments, as are comments by users with these badges: . Replies to those posts appear here, as well as posts by staff writers.